In a move that was met with strong criticism by the Opposition, Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government renamed Mughalsarai railway station to Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) station on Saturday.
The Jan Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhyay had died while travelling in a train at Mughalsarai station on February 11, 1968.
The UP government, in August, had sent the proposal to rename the station that was accepted by the Centre.
The Mughalsarai station was constructed in 1862 when the East India Company linked Howrah to Delhi by rail. It is the fourth busiest railway junction in India. The station contains the largest railway marshaling yard in Asia. It is 12.5 km long and handles around 1, 500 wagons daily, in its peak it used to handle at least 5,000 wagons. The station also houses the largest wagon repairing workshop of Railways in India.
Railways seems to be in a name-changing exercise. Some examples:
Bangalore city railway station: The Central government approved the notice to rename Bangalore City Railway station to “Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna” in honour of Karnataka’s 19th century revolutionary freedom fighter in 2015.
Oshiwara: The BJP government in November last year filed a notification to rename the Oshiwara railway station in Mumbai as Ram Mandir railway station, said media reports.
(With agency inputs)